Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Shares of Ecovyst Inc. (NYSE:ECVT) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 1,032,186 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 20% from the previous session’s volume of 863,305 shares.The stock last traded at $7.10 and had previously closed at $6.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECVT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ecovyst from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Ecovyst from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BWS Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Ecovyst in a report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Ecovyst from $13.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Ecovyst Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $887.50 million, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.12.

Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). Ecovyst had a return on equity of 7.11% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firm had revenue of $182.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Ecovyst’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecovyst Inc. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ecovyst

In other Ecovyst news, insider Paul Whittleston purchased 7,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.50 per share, for a total transaction of $50,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 57,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,023. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Paul Whittleston bought 7,800 shares of Ecovyst stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.50 per share, for a total transaction of $50,700.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 57,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,023. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph S. Koscinski purchased 4,807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.26 per share, with a total value of $30,091.82. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 544,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,409,252.34. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ecovyst

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECVT. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Ecovyst by 58.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 521,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,811,000 after purchasing an additional 191,839 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Ecovyst by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 459,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,120,000 after acquiring an additional 98,719 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Ecovyst by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 5,026,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,040,000 after acquiring an additional 178,001 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its position in Ecovyst by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,729,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,516,000 after acquiring an additional 292,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Ecovyst by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 59,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 9,840 shares during the last quarter. 86.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ecovyst

Ecovyst Inc offers specialty catalysts and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Ecoservices and Advanced Materials & Catalysts. The Ecoservices segment provides sulfuric acid recycling services and end-to-end logistics for production of alkylate for refineries; and virgin sulfuric acid for mining, water treatment, and industrial applications.